Practical Logo Design Guide | A logo is a big part of the marketing that represents a company or brand. While it’s not the only factor affecting the success of your business, when done right, your logo will help existing and potential clients remember your business and what you can do for them a lot better, communicate the nature of your brand, and it will tie together all of your branded elements into a cohesive visual experience. Contrary to what many believe, however, designing a logo isn’t something that can be done during a lazy Sunday afternoon in front of a TV.

Designing a logo that stands out and grabs the attention of your target audience does require a lot of insight, planning, researching, and a pinch of creativity, but it can be a fun and exciting experience. Are you in the market for a brand new logo? Updating an existing one? Or perhaps you’re just curious about everything that takes place during a design project? You’re at the right place! We’re sure you’ll find something new in today’s list of tips, tricks, and best practices that will take your business logo to a whole new level.

Think About Your Brand | Practical Logo Design Guide

Long before you start sketching the first ideas, you’ll need to think about what you want your logo to say about your business. What are some of the values and traits you want your logo to communicate? In addition to your brand, your target audience, as well as the personality and culture of your ideal client are also important factors that determine the overall look and feel of a logo. Keep in mind that what appeals to a high-school senior will be very different to what appeals to a senior citizen, so if you’re hoping to attract attention, find a logo that not only represents your business, but also appeals to your target audience.

Start Sketching! | Practical Logo Design Guide

Many people will go straight to their computers and start playing around in Photoshop. However, you’ll want to start by sketching on real paper and filling out a few pages before you move on to your computer. After all, what was the first thing you learned to use – your computer or pen and paper? The ideas will flow a lot faster between a pen and a paper, and once you have a few ideas jotted down, you can choose the ones you like the most and tweak them using your computer.

Don’t Get Distracted By Color | Practical Logo Design Guide

One of the reasons why you shouldn’t use your computer right away is because most of people will get carried away playing around with different colors, gradients and special effects, instead of focusing on the basic structure and the design of the logo. Sure, the logo might look stunning on your computer screen, but will it be just as effective when the color is removed, or if you have to print it out without the gradients, using only one color? To ensure optimal functionality, design your logo in black first, and only when you’re happy with the design, add color and other details.

Choose The Right Colors | Practical Logo Design Guide

Nothing makes an impact quite like color, which is why choosing the right palette is vital in logo design, so when the time comes to add some color to your logo, it’s critical that you use colors that not only work well together, but also communicate the right message. Remember, every color has a different meaning, and the last thing you want is to communicate the wrong message because of a single brush stroke.

Include The Name Of Business | Practical Logo Design Guide

As creative as the graphic you come up with is, it will not be as effective on its own in representing your business as it could be if you combined it with the name of your business. This goes for majority of businesses, especially if you’re just starting out! While companies such as Twitter and Starbucks are using only the graphic part of their logos without any problem, that’s because they’ve been around for a long time, and they’ve already spent tons of money on branding and marketing efforts to build up the recognition.

You’ll also want to pay attention to the fonts you use for your logo. While there might be complex fonts you really like, if they’re difficult to read, they don’t belong in your logo. After all, your logo should make it easy for your potential clients to remember your business, and if you make it difficult for them to read the name of your company, even the most appealing logo won’t do you that much good.

Aim For Versatility | Practical Logo Design Guide

The logo you come up with will be the face of your business, which means it needs to adaptable to pretty much any material and application. You will want to feature your logo on every piece of paper that leaves your office, on your marketing items both online and off, as well as in color and in gray-scale. This is why it’s best to design your logo using the vector format. Vectors, unlike raster images, will allow you to scale your logo to pretty much any size without affecting the quality and seeing individual pixels, which means your logo will look just as good on a business card as it would on a roadside billboard.

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I had been following Media Novak’s work for a while now and was always impressed with their logo work. The logo designs they came up with based on my wishes for what I wanted it to look like were above and beyond what I had imagined. The process itself was smooth and so easy. I gave input and they took it on board and applied it to the next design. I would highly recommend them any day!

Chantal Lachance-Gibson Photography

I cannot begin to say enough about Mark & the team at Media Novak. Their customer service has been TOP NOTCH! They have gone way beyond my expectations and dreams and have put together a website for me that I am so proud of… I actually can’t believe that it’s mine! If you are looking for a new website or new branding then look no further… contact these guys today!

Myrick Cowart – Photographer

Thank you thank you thank you! I really appreciate all of your help and your quick replies and editing, and well, everything. I will DEFINITELY be referring your team! I love my new logo and I love that it is completely my own and completely encompasses my brand. I really appreciate all of the time and effort your team has put into this project. Thank you again and again!

Bethany Petersen – Photographer

I decided to hire Media Novak after seeing a friends logo that I really liked. I sent them my ideas but I actually preferred one of their original concepts over my own ideas! They really understood the look and feel I was trying to achieve and I am delighted with my new logo! I found the process to be really enjoyable and smooth and emails were answered very quickly… a big thumbs up from me!

Karen McGowran – Photographer

Media Novak were helpful and listened to me as the client… never once tried to push their likes onto me… but they do offer good advice. I think what has mattered most to me was once we went live, they were very much still around to iron out little problems that only became noticeable to myself with the daily running of a website and a blog! I would highly recommend them to other businesses!

Jo-Ann Stokes – Photographer

Media Novak designed a beautiful website for me and I’m very satisfied with it. They listened to what I wanted and tailored the site to fit me and I really appreciate that. Their prices are reasonable and the quality is fantastic. I would highly recommend this company.

About Us

MediaNovak is a creative design agency that specializes in web design, online marketing, graphic design and corporate identity solutions. We started our company with some basic ideals—offer our customers exceptional design, while delivering a positive customer experience.

These ideals have helped grow our business and drive customers to our door. A majority of our business comes simply from “word of mouth” referrals—one customer telling another of the experience that we offer here. We consider this the ultimate compliment.